Read The Contract Electronic Manufacturer From Details

Many companies first learn a new contract electronic manufacturer by throwing them a questionnaire and then judge by their answers. Is this enough? Do the answers from different CEMs seems the same or very similar?

Here is not discussing how to read answers from the questionnaire as I am sure you are the professional to read your own supplier questionnaire. But how to know more?

If you have the opportunity to go visit them, then go. Sometimes it can give you a huge surprise when you actually see the manufacturer. Not saying whether the electronic contract manufacturer’s workshop is well decorated or not, or whether their management is well dressed. It’s the details you need to look into. Is their line set up for customer visit? Or more focus on practical use about efficiency and quality control? Do they decorate their factory very fancy, if so why they spend their time and money on well decorated workshop? Everyone knows how to judge a management from talking, in many ways in fact. But how the management of a electronic manufacturing service provider should dress? Do they focus more on how they look like then how to run the business?

If you don’t have the chance to visit the electronic contract manufacturing facilities yet, then read from the email communications. Are they asking a lot of questions? If yes, this is a good sign because this means they care, and they take this seriously. They’re asking too many questions on the details of the product? Why they even care the tolerance of a label size? Why they ask me to approve a simple resistor? Why they want to know how to test the product even at PCBA level? Why they want us to confirm a quality standard? Why they told me how they run cosmetic inspection? Why they have so many questions, can’t they just decide by themselves?